Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for modeling an object-oriented system. Within the object model, a reference attribute is specified for a class and a first object is instantiated from the class. Thereafter, a reference-based association can be added to the first object using the reference attribute, wherein the reference-based association identifies a relationship between the first object and a second object.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for sending messages between objects in an object-oriented system. A reference attribute for a first object is defined, wherein the reference attribute refers to a second object. A message then may be sent from the first object to the second object using the reference attribute to route the message from the first object to the second object.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture which provides for sending a message to a group and the group then broadcasting the message to the members of the group within an object-oriented system. The method comprises the steps of creating a first sending object and a group in a memory of a computer, the group being comprised of one or more receiving objects, sending a first message to the first sending object, sending a second message from the first sending object to the group based on the receipt of the first message, and broadcasting the second message to every object in the group.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture which provides for synchronizing links and group definitions in an object-oriented system. The method comprises the steps of creating a first class and a second class within a memory of a computer, creating a link between the first class and the second class within the memory of the computer, setting a multiplicity value within the memory of the computer to define a first group within the first class and a second group within the second class, creating an instance of the first class in the memory of the computer where the instance is within the first group, changing the group definition in the memory of the computer to include the instance and link the first group to the second group via the created link, and changing the created link in the memory of the computer to reflect the changes in the defined first group.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for notification in an object-oriented system. The system includes observed objects in an object hierarchy, a notification manager, and observer objects. The notification manager determines when a change is made to one of the observed objects in the object hierarchy and then notifies an associated observer object of the change.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for providing a change and accounting log in an object-oriented system. When a function is invoked in an application programming interface (API) to modify one or more aspects of the object-oriented system, a log entry is created in the API that documents various aspects of the invoked function. The log entry identifies the invoked function in the API, input parameters passed to the invoked function in the API, output parameters received from the invoked function in the API, and/or a return code received from the invoked function in the API that indicates a successful and failed completion of the invoked function in the API. Thereafter, the API stores the log entry into the change and accounting log in the data storage device.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture which provides for synchronizing classes, objects, attributes, object properties, etc., in an object-oriented system. The method comprises the steps of identifying target classes, objects, attributes, object properties, etc., verifying whether the synchronization of each of the targets can proceed, and modifying the targets, wherein the target classes, objects, attributes, etc. are synchronized across the object-oriented system. The identifying step further comprises the steps of navigating the object-oriented system based on definitional relationships and ownership relationships, generating target identifiers that uniquely identify the targets, and recording the target identifiers in a linear data structure.